1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method for the washing of, in particular, items of laundry by washing laundry in a treatment liquid in a drum that can be driven in a rotating manner and has successive treatment chambers through which the items of laundry are transferred.
2. Prior Art
The invention relates, in particular, to the washing and subsequent after-treatment, for example, rinsing and/or finishing, of items of laundry in commercial laundries. In commercial laundries, use is made of washing machines, in particular continuous-process washing machines, which have an elongate drum which can be driven in a rotating manner. The items of laundry or other articles to be treated are conducted along in the treatment direction through the drum and in the process are at least washed and rinsed. If appropriate, following the rinsing, finishing of the items of laundry takes place in the washing machine.
The washing and the subsequent treatment of the items of laundry in the washing machine takes place using a treatment liquid. This is, as a rule, water which is provided with the additives required for washing, rinsing and, if appropriate, finishing. As a rule, the washing takes place in a different treatment liquid than the subsequent rinsing. In the case of known washing machines, the treatment liquid is conducted, together with the items of laundry, through the individual treatment stations in the drum, specifically, in particular, through the washing station and the rinsing station or through the chambers formed for this purpose within the drum. The consequence is a continuous mixing of different treatment liquids and dirt-laden treatment liquids.
Taking the above as the starting point, the invention is based on the object of providing a method for the washing of, in particular, items of laundry, with which an individual treatment of the items of laundry is possible, specifically without a significant mixing, or at least only a slight mixing, of the different treatment liquids used for the particular treatment.
A method for achieving this object has the measures of claim 1. By virtue of the fact that the items of laundry are transferred at least from one treatment chamber to the following treatment chamber essentially without the treatment liquid which is not tied up in the items of laundry, namely without the xe2x80x9cfree detergent solutionxe2x80x9d, a significant mixing of the treatment liquid in different chambers, in particular, different treatment zones, is avoided. Only the treatment liquid present in the wet items of laundry, the xe2x80x9ctied-up detergent solutionxe2x80x9d, passes, in the case of the method according to the invention, into the next chamber or to the next treatment zone. In this procedure, the carrying-along of dirt-laden treatment liquids into the next treatment chamber or treatment zone is also effectively avoided, or at least reduced.
The method according to the invention is preferably used in the case of transferring the items of laundry from the washing zone, in particular clear washing zone, to the following rinsing zone, in that the items of laundry are transferred into the rinsing zone without the free wash water. This makes it possible to keep detergent from the washing zone out of the rinsing zone, apart from small quantities of detergent in the tied-up detergent solution. The items of laundry are preferably transferred from the chamber, or in the case of a number of chambers, from the last chamber, of the clear washing zone to the chamber of the rinsing zone, or to a first chamber of a rinsing zone having a number of chambers, without the free detergent solution, i.e. without the washing liquid present in the clear washing zone.
The transferring of the items of laundry from one treatment zone to the adjacent treatment zone, or from one chamber into the following chamber, expediently takes place after the items of laundry have been separated at least for the most part, preferably completely, from the free detergent solution, in that chamber from which they are transferred into the following chamber.
Furthermore, provision is made to draw off the free detergent solution from the particular treatment chamber before the items of laundry are transferred into the following treatment chamber. This ensures that during the transfer none of the free detergent solution remains in the chamber and is transferred together with the items of laundry into the following chamber.
According to an advantageous development of the method according to the invention, the drum continues to be driven in a rotating manner, specifically preferably in the manner used for the washing and/or rinsing, during the drawing-off of the free detergent solution as a result of the items of laundry being transferred into the adjacent treatment zone and/or treatment chamber. In this connection, some of the tied-up detergent solution is removed from the items of laundry. This tied-up detergent solution which is partially separated from the laundry during spinning can then be removed together with the free detergent solution, before the laundry is transferred into the following treatment zone and/or treatment chamber thereof. The further driving of the drum can proceed in such a manner that it is maintained not only during the drawing-off of the free detergent solution; rather, it also extends over a subsequent period of time, with the result that the treatment liquid still running out of the items of laundry after the free detergent solution has been drawn off can still be drawn off like the free detergent solution after the complete draining-away of the actual free detergent solution.
The method according to the invention is particularly suitable for the transfer of the items of laundry in the case of washing machines having a drum which has chambers, the transferring of the items of laundry taking place in accordance with the xe2x80x9cbottom transferxe2x80x9d principle.